Sign up to receive free email alerts when patent applications with chosen keywords are publishedSIGN UP

Abstract:

In the tape attaching method of cutting a tape member into conductive
tape pieces and attaching the conductive tape pieces onto a plurality of
attachment regions which are formed at a side edge part of a board, an
attaching step in which the conductive tape pieces is attached onto the
attachment region of a first press position, and a moving step, in which
by driving a tape sending mechanism to perform the operation of sending
the tape member while a press bonding head and a peeling unit are
integrally moved relative to the board, the press bonding head is aligned
with the attachment region of a second press position, and a separator is
peeled from the tape member attached onto the first press position by the
peeling unit during the relative movement, are repeated.

Claims:

1-2. (canceled)

3. A tape attaching method which cuts an anisotropic conductive tape into
conductive tape pieces of a predetermined attachment length, and attaches
the conductive tape pieces onto a plurality of attachment regions which
are formed at a side edge part of a board, and which is performed by a
tape attaching device comprising a board holding table which holds the
board, a tape guiding unit which guides a tape member, which is formed by
laminating the anisotropic conductive tape on a separator, from a tape
supplying unit to the attachment regions configured by a plurality of
electrode units provided at the side edge part of the board along the
longitudinal direction thereof, and sends the tape member, which becomes
only the separator by attaching the anisotropic conductive tape onto the
attachment regions, to the side of a tape collecting unit, a cutting unit
which forms breaks at an interval corresponding to the attachment length
in the attachment regions on the anisotropic conductive tape, an
attaching unit which attaches the anisotropic conductive tape onto the
attachment regions by pressing the tape member on the board, which is
held on the board holding table and the side edge part of which is
received from below by a lower receiving unit, with a press bonding head,
a peeling unit which peels the separator from the anisotropic conductive
tape attached by the attaching unit, a relative moving unit which
horizontally moves the attaching unit and the peeling unit relative to
the board holding table in a state that a relative position of the
attaching unit and the peeling unit is kept, and a control unit which
controls the relative moving unit, the tape guiding unit, the cutting
unit, the attaching unit, and the peeling unit, the tape attaching method
comprising: an attaching step in which the conductive tape piece is
attached onto one attachment region; and a moving step in which after the
press bonding head is moved up, while the attaching unit and the peeling
unit are integrally moved relative to the board holding table by driving
the relative moving unit, the tape guiding unit is driven to perform the
operation of sending the tape member, so that the press bonding head is
aligned with the next attachment region, and while the relative movement
is performed until a position where the relative movement is completely
peeled from the anisotropic conductive tape attached onto the attachment
region by the peeling unit during the relative movements, the press
bonding head and the next conductive tape piece are aligned with the next
attachment region, wherein the attaching step and the moving step are
repeated.

Description:

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to a tape attaching device and a tape
attaching method which attach a tape for mounting components onto a
board, such as a display panel.

BACKGROUND ART

[0002] In a component mounting operation of mounting components, such as
an IC, a TCP (Tape Carrier Package), a COF (Chip on Film) and a FPC
(Flexible Printed Circuit), onto a side edge part of a display panel
(referred to as a "board" hereafter), a tape attaching operation of
attaching an anisotropic conductive tape (Anisotropic Conductive Film:
ACF) (hereafter referred to as a conductive tape), which is used as
adhesive that contains conductive particles, onto electrode parts
provided at the side edge part of the board is performed ahead of a
component loading operation.

[0003] The tape attaching operation is performed by pressing a tape member
in which a conductive tape is laminated on a protective tape, which is
called a separator, to the side edge part of the board with a pressing
body of an attaching unit, and thereby the conductive tape is attached to
the electrode parts. After the attachment, a peeling procedure of peeling
the separator from the conductive tape is performed (for example, see a
patent document 1). In the related art shown in the patent document, only
the separator is peeled by moving horizontally a peeling member which
interposes between the attached conductive tape and the separator.

RELATED ART DOCUMENTS

Patent Documents

[0004] Patent Document 1: Japan Patent Publication No. 2001-294361

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

Problems to be Solved by the Present Invention

[0005] With the upsizing of television screens in recent years, the size
of the to display panel used in televisions tends to be enlarged in both
length and width. For this reason, the range in which the conductive tape
is attached in the assembly of such a large-sized display panel also
increases. However, in the display panel, the electrode parts to which
the components are connected are not necessarily formed in the total
range of the side edge part of the display panel, but in many cases
electrode parts of a prescribed length are spaced and formed
discontinuously. When the conductive tape is attached to such a display
panel, if the overall conductive tape is attached onto the total range of
the side edge part, the conductive tape will be attached even onto a
range which would be unnecessary, and the waste of material will be
produced.

[0006] In order to eliminate the waste, the conductive tape should be
attached only in a component connection range in which the electrode
parts are formed in the side edge part of the display panel. However, if
the tape is attached in such a way, since it is necessary to repeat
several times the tape peeling operation after the tape attachment, there
are problems that it is hard to avoid that the whole operation time is
delayed, and productivity is deteriorated. For this reason, it is desired
to improve the efficiency of the tape peeling operation and eliminate the
waste of the conductive tape.

[0007] The present invention is intended to provide a tape attaching
device and a tape attaching method so that a tape peeling operation is
efficiently performed while the waste of the conductive tape is
eliminated and productivity can be improved.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0008] A tape attaching device of the present invention which cuts an
anisotropic conductive tape into conductive tape pieces of a
predetermined attachment length, and attaches the conductive tape pieces
onto a plurality of attachment regions which are formed at a side edge
part of a board, comprising a board holding table which holds the board;
a tape guiding unit which guides a tape member in which the anisotropic
conductive tape is laminated on a separator, from a tape supplying unit
to the attachment regions provided at the side edge part of the board
along the longitudinal direction thereof, and sends the tape member,
which becomes only the separator by attaching the anisotropic conductive
tape onto the attachment regions, to a side of a tape collecting unit; a
cutting unit which forms the conductive tape pieces by forming breaks at
an interval corresponding to the attachment length in the attachment
regions on the anisotropic conductive tape; an attaching unit which
attaches the anisotropic conductive tape onto the attachment regions by
pressing the tape member on the board, which is held on the board holding
table and the side edge part of which is received from below by a lower
receiving unit, with a press bonding head; a peeling unit which peels the
separator from the anisotropic conductive tape attached by the attaching
unit; a relative moving unit which horizontally moves the attaching unit
and the peeling unit relative to the board holding table in a state that
a relative position of the attaching unit and the peeling unit is kept;
and a control unit which controls the relative moving unit, the tape
guiding unit, the cutting unit, the attaching unit, and the peeling unit;
wherein the control unit makes sending operation of the tape member to be
performed by the tape guiding unit in synchronization with the relative
movement with the relative moving unit.

[0009] A tape attaching method of the present invention which cuts an
anisotropic conductive tape into conductive tape pieces of a
predetermined attachment length, and attaches the conductive tape pieces
onto a plurality of attachment regions which are formed at a side edge
part of a board, and which is performed by a tape attaching device
comprising a board holding table which holds the board, a tape guiding
unit which guides a tape member in which the anisotropic conductive tape
is laminated on a separator, from a tape supplying unit to the attachment
regions provided at the side edge part of the board along the
longitudinal direction thereof, and sends the tape member, which becomes
only the separator by attaching the anisotropic conductive tape onto the
attachment regions, to the side of a tape collecting unit, a cutting unit
which forms breaks at an interval corresponding to the attachment length
in the attachment regions on the anisotropic conductive tape, an
attaching unit which attaches the anisotropic conductive tape onto the
attachment regions by pressing the tape member on the board, which is
held on the board holding table and the side edge part of which is
received from below by a lower receiving unit, with a press bonding head,
a peeling unit which peels the separator from the anisotropic conductive
tape attached by the attaching unit, a relative moving unit which
horizontally moves the attaching unit and the peeling unit relative to
the board holding table in a state that a relative position of the
attaching unit and the peeling unit is kept, and a control unit which
controls the relative moving unit, the tape guiding unit, the cutting
unit, the attaching unit, and the peeling unit, the tape attaching method
comprising an attaching step in which the conductive tape piece is
attached onto one attachment region; and a moving step in which after the
press bonding head is moved up, while the attaching unit and the peeling
unit are integrally moved relative to the board holding table by driving
the relative moving unit, the tape guiding unit is driven to perform the
operation of sending the tape member, so that the press bonding head is
aligned with the next attachment region and the separator is peeled from
the anisotropic conductive tape attached onto the attachment region by
the peeling unit during the relative movement; wherein the attaching step
and the moving step are repeated.

Effect of the Present Invention

[0010] According to the present invention, in the tape attaching method of
cutting the anisotropic conductive tape into conductive tape pieces of a
predetermined attachment length and attaching the conductive tape pieces
onto the plurality of attachment regions which are formed at the side
edge part of the board, the attaching step in which one conductive tape
piece is attached on one attachment region, and the moving step, in which
by driving the tape guiding unit to perform the operation of sending the
tape member while the attaching unit and the peeling unit are integrally
moved relative to the board holding table, the press bonding head is
aligned with the next attachment region, and the separator is peeled from
the anisotropic conductive tape attached onto the attachment region by
the peeling unit during the relative movement, are repeated. Thus, the
tape peeling operation is efficiently performed while the waste of the
conductive tape is eliminated, and productivity can be improved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0011] FIG. 1 is a front view of a tape attaching device of one embodiment
of the present invention.

[0012]FIG. 2 is a side view of the tape attaching device of the
embodiment of the present invention.

[0013] FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b) are explanatory views of the attachment length
of an anisotropic conductive tape on a board which is the object of the
tape attaching device of the embodiment of the present invention.

[0014] FIGS. 4(a), 4(b) and 4(c) are procedure illustrations of a tape
attaching method of the embodiment of the present invention.

[0015] FIGS. 5(a), 5(b) and 5(c) are procedure illustrations of the tape
attaching method of the embodiment of the present invention.

[0016]FIG. 6 is a procedure illustration of the tape attaching method of
the embodiment of the present invention.

EMBODIMENTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

[0017] Next, an embodiment of the present invention is described with
reference to the figures. First, the construction of a tape attaching
device 1 is described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. In a component
mounting device which mounts components for a driver or the like on a
side edge part of a board, such as a display panel, the tape attaching
device 1 has a function of cutting an anisotropic conductive tape
(hereafter only called an "conductive tape" in brief), which is used to
bond the components to the side edge part and electrically connect the
components to electrode parts, into conductive tape pieces of a
predetermined attachment length ahead of a component loading operation,
and attaching the conductive tape pieces to a plurality of attachment
regions which are formed on the side edge part of the board.

[0018] In FIGS. 1 and 2, the tape attaching device 1 has such a
construction that a board positioning unit 3, which positions the board
on which the attachment is made, is disposed below an attaching mechanism
2 which has a function of supplying and attaching the conductive tape.
The attaching mechanism 2 is based on a vertical plate-like base plate 2a
which is movable in the X direction with an attachment unit moving
mechanism 2b, and a tape supply reel 5 is disposed at the upper unit of
the base plate 2a. The tape supply reel 5 winds and stores a tape member
4 which is formed by laminating a conductive tape 4b onto a separator 4a,
and is rotated by a reel driving mechanism 5a (refer to FIG. 2) which is
disposed on the back surface of the base plate 2a.

[0019] When the reel driving mechanism 5a is driven, the tape supply reel
5 is rotated in the direction of arrow a, and the wound and stored tape
member 4 is unwound and guided (arrow b) around a tension roller 6a of a
tension giving mechanism 6 and downwards. The tension giving mechanism 6
has a function of giving a predetermined tension to the tape member 4 so
that slack may not occur in the unwound tape member 4. The tape supply
reel 5 and the reel driving mechanism 5a construct a tape supplying unit
which supplies the tape member 4.

[0020] A first guide roller 8 and a second guide roller 9 are horizontally
disposed at both sides of the lower end unit of the base plate 2a, and a
tape sending mechanism 10 and a tape collecting unit 13 are further
disposed above the second guide roller 9. The horizontal unit between the
first guide roller 8 and the second guide roller 9 is an attachment
position where the conductive tape 4b is attached onto attachment regions
23 (refer to FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b)) of the board 20 by an attaching unit to
be described later. The tape member 4, which is unwound from the tape
supply reel 5 and goes through the tension giving mechanism 6, is guided
around the first guide roller 8 and horizontally with the conductive tape
4b downwards, and in the attachment position, only the conductive tape 4b
at the lower side in the tape member 4 is attached onto the attachment
regions 23 of the board 20.

[0021] The tape member 4, which becomes only the separator 4a since the
conductive tape 4b is attached onto the attachment regions 23 of the
board 20, is guided around the second guide roller 9 and upwards by the
tape sending mechanism 10 (arrow c), and collected by the tape collecting
unit 13. The tape sending mechanism 10 is provided with a driving roller
11 and an idle roller 12 which hold the separator 4a to send upwards, and
the driving roller 11 is rotated by a roller driving mechanism 11a (refer
to FIG. 2) which is disposed at the back surface side of the base plate
2a. The tape sending mechanism 10, the first guide roller 8 and the
second guide roller 9 are a tape guiding unit which guides the tape
member 4, which is formed by laminating the conductive tape 4b on the
separator 4a, from the tape supplying unit to the attachment regions 23
which are provided at the side edge part 20a of the board 20 along the
longitudinal direction, and sends the tape member 4, which becomes only
the separator 4a since the conductive tape 4b is attached onto the
attachment regions 23 of the board 20, to the side of the tape collecting
unit 13.

[0022] A cutting unit 7 is disposed in a feeding course of the tape member
4 from the tension giving mechanism 6 to the first guide roller 8. The
cutting unit 7 has such a construction that a cutter blade 7b is moved
back and forth relative to the conductive tape 4b by a blade driving
mechanism 7a. In a state that the back surface side of the separator 4a
is supported by a receiving member 7c, by moving the cutter blade 7b back
and forth relative to the tape member 4, only the conductive tape 4b in
the tape member 4 is cut, and a break 4c is formed. The break 4c defines
the range of the conductive tape 4b attached in one tape attachment,
i.e., an attachment length. That is, the cutting unit 7 forms breaks 4c
in the conductive tape 4b at an interval corresponding to the attachment
length L (refer to FIG. 3 (b)) at the attachment regions 23 of the board
20. The break 4c corresponds to an attachment starting position S of the
conductive tape 4b, and in the tape attaching operation, the position of
the break 4c is aligned with an attachment starting end 23a of the
attachment region 23 (refer to FIG. 4 (b)).

[0023] A press bonding head 15 which is moved up and down by an elevating
mechanism 14 is disposed between the first guide roller 8 and the second
guide roller 9 and above the feeding course of the tape member 4 in the
horizontal direction (X direction), and under the press bonding head 15,
a lower receiving unit 22 is disposed to be opposed to the press bonding
head 15. Furthermore, the board positioning unit 3, which has such a
construction that a board holding table 19 is moved by a board moving
mechanism 18, is disposed at the back surface side of the lower receiving
unit 22 in the Y direction. The board holding table 19 holds the board 20
on which the attachment is made. As shown in FIG. 2, the board 20 has a
construction of laminating two glass boards together, and at a side edge
part 20a where the lower glass board is exposed partially, as shown in an
A-A arrow view, a plurality of (in this embodiment, four) electrode parts
21 which include a plurality of terminals 21a for component connection
are formed into a line shape along the longitudinal direction of the side
edge part 20a.

[0024] The board moving mechanism 18 is formed by laminating an X axis
table 18X, a Y axis tables 18Y, and a Zθ axis table 18Zθ from
below, and the board holding table 19 is combined on the top surface of
the Zθ axis table 18Zθ. By driving the board moving mechanism
18, the board holding table 19 which holds the board 20 is moved in the X
direction, the Y direction, the Z direction, and the direction of
θ. Thereby, the attachment regions 23 of the side edge part 20a of
the board 20 can be positioned to the attachment position of the press
bonding head 15.

[0025] Namely, the side edge part 20a of the board 20 is moved in the Y
direction by the Y axis table 18Y (arrow d), and is placed under the
press bonding head 15. Furthermore, the side edge part 20a is moved down
by the Zθ axis table 18Zθ (arrow e), and thereby the back
surface of the side edge part 20a is received from below by the receiving
surface of the top end surface of the lower receiving unit 22. In a state
that the back surface of the side edge part 20a is separated from the
receiving surface of the top end surface of the lower receiving unit 22,
by driving the X axis table 18X, the side edge part 20a of the board 20
is moved in the X direction, and the attachment regions 23 which are set
along the side edge part 20a can be made to oppose to the press bonding
head 15. That is, the board moving mechanism 18 at least moves the board
holding table 19 in the X direction which is along the side edge part 20a
of the board 20. It is also possible that the receiving operation of
contacting the back surface of the side edge part 20a of the board 20
with the receiving surface of the top end surface of the lower receiving
unit 22, and the operation of detaching the back surface of the side edge
part 20a from the receiving surface of the top end surface of the lower
receiving unit 22, are performed by moving the lower receiving unit 22,
which becomes movable in the up-down direction, in the up-down direction.

[0026] In the tape attachment of the press bonding head 15, in a state
that the tape member 4, in which the conductive tape 4b to be attached is
at the lower side, is located above the side edge part 20a, while the
press bonding head 15 is dropped by the elevating mechanism 14 to press
the tape member 4 with a predetermined load onto the attachment region of
the side edge part 20a, the tape member 4 is heated with a heater 16
which is provided in the press bonding head 15. Thereby, a conductive
tape piece 4b* covers an electrode part 21, and is attached to the
electrode part 21. A camera 25 is installed at the side end of the base
plate 2a with a downwards imaging direction, and the camera 25 images the
conductive tape piece 4b* attached onto the electrode part 21 from above.
By recognizing this imaging result, the quality of the attachment of the
conductive tape piece 4b* is inspected.

[0027] With reference to FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b), the relation between the
press length of the press bonding head 15 and the attachment length of
the attachment region of the board 20 is described. As shown in FIG. 3
(a), the press bonding head 15 of a press length B in which the tape
member 4 is pressed is attached to the elevating mechanism 14 shown in
this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3 (b), the position of the electrode
part 21 in the side edge part 20a of the board 20 on which the attachment
is made, in other words, the length L of the attachment region 23 of the
conductive tape 4b on the board 20 is somewhat shorter than the press
length B of the press bonding head 15, and the total range of one
conductive tape piece 4b* can be covered with one pressing operation of
the press bonding head 15.

[0028] In this embodiment, conductive pieces 4b* are sequentially attached
onto the attachment regions 23 by pressing the press bonding head 15 to a
first press position P1, a second press position P2, a third press
position P3, and a fourth press position P4 respectively corresponding to
four electrode parts 21. The elevating mechanism 14 and the press bonding
head 15 construct an attaching unit which attaches the conductive tape
pieces 4b* on the attachment regions 23 of the board 20 by pressing the
tape member 4, in which the conductive tape 4b is laminated onto the
separator 4a, on the board 20, which is held at the board holding table
19 and the side edge part 20a of which is received from below by the
lower receiving unit 22, with the press bonding head 15.

[0029] In FIG. 1, at the side of the second guide roller 9 towards the
central unit, a peeling unit 17 is disposed at a fixed position of the
attaching mechanism 2, and the relative position of the peeling unit 17
and the attaching unit is always kept the same. The peeling unit 17
includes two peeling rollers, that is, a first peeling roller 17a that is
placed below the separator 4a which is fed horizontally, and a second
peeling roller 17b that is placed above the separator 4a, and has a
function of peeling the separator 4a from the conductive tape 4b attached
by the attaching unit.

[0030] Namely, as shown in FIG. 504 in a state that the first peeling
roller 17a is placed between the conductive tape 4b attached onto the
side edge part 20a of the board 20 and the separator 4a, by driving the
attachment unit moving mechanism 2b to horizontally move the peeling unit
17 in the X direction relative to the board 20 together with the base
plate 2a, the first peeling roller 17a advances into the interface of the
conductive tape 4b and the separator 4a of the tape member 4, and the
separator 4a is peeled from the conductive tape 4b attached onto the side
edge part 20a of the board 20. At this time, by sending the tape member 4
with the tape sending mechanism 10 in synchronization with the horizontal
movement of the peeling unit 17, the peeled separator 4a can be collected
without producing slack in the separator 4a after the peeling. The second
peeling roller 17b becomes movable up and down in the peeling unit 17,
and in the tape attachment of the press bonding head 15, the second
peeling roller 17b can be moved up and down together with the press
bonding head 15, relative to the tape member 4 in which the conductive
tape 4b pressed onto the side edge part 20a of the board 20 is laminated.

[0031] Therefore, the attachment unit moving mechanism 2b becomes a
relative moving unit which horizontally moves the attaching unit and the
peeling unit 17 relative to the board holding table 19 when a relative
position of the attaching unit and the peeling unit 17 is kept. It is
also possible, by horizontally moving the board holding table 19 in the X
direction with the board moving mechanism 18 instead of horizontally
moving the base plate 2a with the attachment unit moving mechanism 2b in
the attaching mechanism 2, to make the attaching unit and the peeling
unit 17 to be horizontally moved relative to the board holding table 19
in a state that a relative position of the attaching unit and the peeling
unit 17 is kept. In this case, the board moving mechanism 18 constructs
the relative moving unit.

[0032] The operations of the attachment unit moving mechanism 2b, the
cutting unit 7, the tape sending mechanism 10, the elevating mechanism
14, the press bonding head 15, the peeling unit 17, and the board moving
mechanism 18 are controlled by a control unit 24. At this time, the tape
peeling is performed when the control unit 24 makes the sending operation
of the tape member to be performed with the tape sending mechanism 10 in
synchronization with the relative movement of the board holding table 19
and the peeling unit 17 with the attachment unit moving mechanism 2b, and
thereby the tape attaching operation to be described below is performed.
Below, with reference to FIGS. 1, 3(a), 3(b), 4(a), 4(b), 4(c), 5(a),
5(b), 5(c) and FIG. 6, a tape attaching method is described with which
the tape attaching device 1 cuts the conductive tape 4b to conductive
tape pieces 4b* of a predetermined attachment length, and attaches the
conductive tape pieces 4b* onto a plurality of attachment regions 23
which are formed at the side edge part 20a of the board 20.

[0033] First, as shown in FIG. 4 (a), while the side edge part 20a of the
board 20 held on the board holding table 19 is moved above the lower
receiving unit 22 (arrow f) and is aligned by the board moving mechanism
18, the attaching mechanism 2 is moved (arrow h) and the first press
position P1 which is set at the side edge part 20a and the press bonding
head 15 are aligned with a predetermined position of the lower receiving
unit 22. Meanwhile, by driving the tape sending mechanism 10 to send the
tape member 4 (the arrow g), a feeding operation is performed which
aligns the attachment starting position S of a first conductive tape
piece 4b* among the conductive tape pieces 4b* formed previously with the
first press position P1.

[0034] Next, as shown in FIG. 4 (b), by driving the Zθ axis table
18Zθ to drop the board holding table 19, the board 20 is dropped
(arrow i) so that the back surface of the side edge part 20a is received
from below by the lower receiving unit 22. In this state, the press
bonding head 15 is in a position where the conductive tape piece 4b* is
pressed to the first press position P1 of the side edge part 20a, and the
attachment starting position S of the conductive tape piece 4b* is
aligned with the attachment start end 23a of the first press position P1.
Herein, the attachment starting position S of the conductive tape piece
4b* corresponds to the break 4c formed in the conductive tape 4b by the
cutting unit 7. In this state, a break 4c is newly formed in the tape
member 4 by operating the cutting unit 7 (arrow j).

[0035] Next, as shown in FIG. 4 (c), by dropping the press bonding head 15
(arrow k), the conductive tape piece 4b* is pressed to the first press
position P1, and is attached onto the corresponding attachment region 23
(one attachment region) (attachment step). At this time, the second
peeling roller 17b of the peeling unit 17 is dropped with the press
bonding head 15. However, the dropping of the second peeling roller 17b
is not indispensable but may be omitted.

[0036] Then, when the pressing at the first press position P1 is
completed, as shown in FIG. 5 (a), the press bonding head 15 will be
raised (arrow l). Next, while the attaching unit containing the press
bonding head 15 and the peeling unit 17 are integrally moved horizontally
relative to the board 20 held on the board holding table 19 (arrow n) by
driving the attachment unit moving mechanism 2b, as shows in FIG. 5 (b),
the tape guiding unit is driven to perform the sending operation of the
tape member 4 is performed (arrow m). During the relative movement in the
X direction of the board holding table 19 and the peeling unit 17, with
the relative movement of the first peeling roller 17a of the peeling unit
17 and the board 20, the separator 4a is peeled from the conductive tape
piece 4b* attached on the attachment region 23 of the side edge part 20a
of the board 20.

[0037] Then, an alignment for the next attachment region 23 is performed.
In other words, as shown in FIG. 5(c), the peeling unit 17 is moved until
the separator 4a is completely peeled from the conductive tape piece 41a*
pressed at the first press position P1. At this time, since the press
bonding head 15 is horizontally moved to a position away from the second
press position, at the peeling, as shown in FIG. 6, the press bonding
head 15 is moved to the opposite direction (arrow o) to be placed above
the second press position P2. Meanwhile, by driving the tape sending
mechanism 10 of the tape guiding unit to send the tape member 4 (arrow
p), the attachment starting position S of the conductive tape piece 4b*
which becomes the next attachment object is aligned with the attachment
starting end 23a of the attachment region 23 (the next attachment region)
corresponding to the second press position P2.

[0038] With these actions, by operating the cutting unit 7 (arrow q), a
break 4c is newly formed in the tape member 4. By imaging the attachment
starting position S of the attached conductive tape piece 4b* with the
camera 25 to recognize the position, the match of the attachment position
of the conductive tape piece 4b* is inspected. Then, for the attachment
regions 23 respectively corresponding to the second press position P2 to
the fourth press position P4, the steps after FIG. 4(c) are repeated in a
similar manner.

[0039] Namely, in the tape attaching method, the attaching step in which
one conductive tape piece 4b* is attached onto one attachment region 23,
and the moving step, in which while the attaching unit and the peeling
unit 17 are integrally moved relative to the board holding table 19 by
driving the attachment unit moving mechanism 2b which is a relative
moving unit, the tape guiding unit is driven to perform the operation of
sending the tape member 4, so that the press bonding head 15 is aligned
with the next attachment region 23 and the separator 4a is peeled from
the anisotropic conductive tape 4b* attached onto the attachment region
23 by the peeling unit 17 during the relative movement, are repeated.
That is, in the moving step, the peeling of the separator 4a and the
alignment of the press bonding head 15 with the next attachment region 23
can be performed simultaneously, and it is possible to shorten the time
which an peeling operation in the tape attaching operation takes.

[0040] Therefore, even when the plurality of electrode parts 21 are spaced
and formed discontinuously as in a large-sized display panel on which the
operation is performed, since the conductive tape 4b is attached only in
the component connection range where the electrode parts 21 are formed in
the side edge part 20a of the board 20, the tape peeling operation can be
performed efficiently while the waste of the conductive tape 4b is
eliminated, and productivity can be improved.

[0041] This application is based on the Japanese patent application
(patent application 2010-137951) filed on Jun. 17, 2010, whose content is
incorporated herein by reference.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

[0042] The tape attaching device and the tape attaching method of the
present invention have effects that the tape peeling operation is
performed efficiently while the waste of the conductive tape is
eliminated, and productivity can be improved, and is applicable in
attaching a tape for mounting components onto a board, such as a display
pane.